Report of the
Director of Church Extension
…for an entire year they met with the CHURCH…and
disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Acts 11:26
By the time this year’s Annual Conference arrives I will have completed one of my goals since becoming Director Of Church Extension, to be in all the BFC Churches and Mission Churches, sharing the ministry and vision of Church Extension. I want to extend my gratitude to all the churches for their gracious invitations to come and share this vital mission of reaching people with the Gospel and planting churches. An important part of my presentations in the churches has been to focus on the primary position evangelistic church planting takes in God’s plan to make disciples from every tongue, tribe and nation. In Acts 11, the church arises in vs.26 from the evangelistic efforts of Christians, scattered by the hand of the Lord through the persecutions in Jerusalem. Then, by means of the discipleship ministry of Barnabas and Saul, those new converts became disciples, committed obedient followers of Christ. Two key elements stand out in the Antioch model; evangelism and church planting. Both are essential if we are to fulfill the Great Commission of making disciples. It has been exciting to see our people react so positively to this teaching. I sense that sparks of evangelistic church planting are being kindled in our churches. May God’s Spirit ignite these sparks into a blazing flame of evangelism and church planting in the BFC.
Several other goals that were a part of my B.U.R.S.T. (Bridging/Uniting/Recruiting/Strategy/ Training) vision , were also accomplished. I believe that we have made good strides in bridging the vital importance of the mission of Church Extension to the churches. This past year the giving from BFC Churches was up 11% and we were able to meet 99% of our Budget. In total we had our best giving year in the history of Church Extension. Beyond the giving, the churches have responded very positively to our new strategic plan, The “Plan To Plant,” and several projects that arose over the past year. There has also been increased interest on the part of the churches to partner with our Department men and their work. The bridges of communication, listening to the churches, and being sensitive to their counsel and suggestions have not only provided good insights for Church Extension, but they have also provided the churches with a sense of confidence and trust in the vision and strategies of Church Extension. I thank the churches for all their support and look forward to building even stronger bridges in the future.
My goal of recruiting and assessing prospective church planters is gaining momentum. This past year, through the support of the BFC, I was able to travel to Colorado and be trained in assessing men for church planting. I am formulating a BFC Church Planter’s Assessment Process and have been experimenting with several aspects of the process. It has already proven to be very helpful in determining whether a prospective church planter has the gifts and abilities to plant churches, where we can assist him or where the prospect might better be suited for ministry. This past year I have encouraged men to consider “Taking The Call “ to plant churches. There is a growing interest among our BFC men to answer the call to plant churches along with interest from men outside the BFC. I have been holding interviews and Pre-Assessments with these men. Another interesting development is the interest in planting churches that is coming from some of our returning missionaries who have been on foreign assignments. As time goes on I believe that we will see God raise up an army of church planters for the BFC, who will be properly assessed, trained and strategically placed in viable church planting arenas.
Another goal was reached when the Board Of Church Extension adopted “The Plan To Plant” as its strategic plan for the next four years. All BFC Pastors and Delegates should have received a copy of the Plan, but if you were missed, please stop by our display at Conference and pick up a copy. I have been holding regional meetings with our Pastors to go over the Plan. Their answers to several important questions will assist our Policy & Strategy Committee’s planning of presentations to a broader audience of Missions Committees and Elders from the BFC churches. Thus far, the Plan To Plant has been very favorably received and the input from the Pastors has been very helpful. These Regional meetings should be completed by early Spring 2002.
The Training element of my vision has been somewhat completed in that we have partnered with The Church Multiplication Training Center ( C.M.T.C.) , a national organization dedicated to assisting denominations in their church planting efforts and training church planters. Through their “Boot Camps” we are able to give our church planters a four day church planting training experience and by using C.M.T.C. materials like, “ The Church Planters Workbook, “ our planters have a step by step checklist for the development of their church plant. I have sought to augment the C.M.T.C. Boot Camp and materials by providing helpful tools from other church planting organizations and making our men aware of seminars, like the recent “Outreach Marketing” seminar that several of our planters attended. There is ongoing development of very profitable church planting tools and I plan on being on the cutting edge for these tools, so that our men have good resources at their disposal.
A review of the developments over the past year that have occurred outside of what I included above will help you see how God has been moving in other areas of our mission. This past year we opened two new Missions in Hellertown, PA and our first Mission of the DELMARVA Project in Rehoboth, DE. God raised up Stephen Mann, former Missionary with WorldTeam to Guadeloupe for the Hellertown Mission and Pastor Ken Barber, former Pastor of the Oley BFC for the Rehoboth Mission. Both Missions have jumped off to good starts. I also worked with the Joint Ethnic Committee On Church Planting in the planning for our second Hispanic Church Plant in Lancaster City, PA. These are very positive movements of the Lord and I am looking forward to how God will bless these works in 2002.
Our Policy & Strategy Committee has been meeting regularly to review our policies and formulate a BFC Church Planting Manual to be used by our planters and those churches seeking to plant daughter churches. I have been promoting this area of Daughter Church planting and several churches are seriously considering planting a daughter church as a way to handle growth but even more importantly as a way to do evangelism and fulfill the great commission. I am praying that at least one of these interested churches will step out in 2002 and plant a daughter church.
Over the past year, our office systems and accounting practices have been streamlined and made more efficient by the gifted and diligent efforts of our Administrative Assistant, Ruth Richards. Ruth has done a great job of keeping me free enough to be out in the churches and among our men on the field. Two other members of our CE Team continue to be very needed assets to our mission. Carol Snyder acts as our Project Coordinator and takes care of a very important aspect of our ministry, our monthly prayer calendar, The Extension Call. Carol is also completing her work on the new prayer card packets of our church planters. We should have them out to all the churches very soon. John Pello, our Outreach Assistant, is doing a great job in assisting Elliot Ramos in South Allentown and Steve Mann in Hellertown with outreach and evangelism. John also works with me on outreaches in Delaware. I praise God for these gifted team members.
In discussions with members of the Board Of Directors, I am pleased to say that we have formulated an agreement on how to handle the Fund To Promote Church Extension and its future. You will see in the Board Of Director’s Report, some resolutions for the transition of the Fund into a “Real Estate Fund” along with a resolution for appropriating an amount of money to Church Extension for our new church starts. I endorse these resolutions and encourage the members of Annual Conference to adopt the recommendations being presented by the Board Of Directors.
Another aspect of my ministry this past year, which evolved from my meetings with the churches and listening to their suggestions, has been to promote and encourage evangelism in the denomination. One way I have done this is by disseminating information particular to evangelism and outreach. I have attempted to keep the denomination aware of current trends and materials that would be helpful for its evangelistic ministries and presented opportunities to meet and discuss how the BFC might become an evangelistic instrument in the hand of the Spirit. I will continue to work in this area and in the new year hold meetings with interested Pastors, seeking God’s direction for making the BFC an evangelistic force in the Kingdom.
The Antiochan Report continues to act as a very important connection to our individual supporters and the churches of the BFC. I constantly receive positive comments of how the Antiochan is being used as a weekly prayer guide and how the information and the devotionals are a blessing. This past year we increased our Antiochan recipients list to near one thousand names.
Finally, I want to praise the Lord for the graduation of the Walnutport Church from our Department in March of 2002. The church reached its final stage of being self-supporting for three years and is now completely on its own. Under the leadership of Pastor Jonathan Tait and the Board of Elders of Walnutport, along with the dedication of the flock, this work which was once dead is now alive and growing.
My conclusion to this Report is to direct your attention to a list of “Expectations” that I have for this new year of ministry. These expectations were printed in the weekly Antiochan Report at the end of 2001 and in a recent Fellowship News publication. Here are the Expectations I listed for 2002.
2002 NEW YEAR’S EXPECTATIONS Pray this year that God will provide all that is necessary to see our expectations in Church Extension become a reality. Covenant with us to pray for each item on this list at least several times a week and let us know that you will join us in this prayer partnership…
1. We expect God to build a new Worship Center in Newark NJ. Newark NJ – Pastor Bert Baker
2. We expect God to grow the Lewes/Rehoboth, DE Mission and that it will launch Sunday services and that another Team will move into the Lewes/Rehoboth area and assist Ken Barber and eventually plant our second church in DELMARVA by the end of 2002. Lewes/Rehoboth DE – Pastor Ken Barber
3. We expect God to provide a man and his family to move to LasCruces and work alongside Jack and Jan Becker and eventually become the Pastor for the Mission. Las Cruces NM – Pastor Jack Becker
4. We expect God to have 35 people worshiping in the Chesapeake,VA Mission by the end of 2002 and the Mission meeting in the new all purpose section of the school. Chesapeake VA – Pastor Willis Dowling
5. We expect God to provide a meeting place for the Hellertown Mission to launch Sunday services and that He will provide 30 new people a month for Steve Mann to contact and share the Gospel. Hellertown, PA – Stephen Mann
6. We expect God to raise up elders in the South Allentown, PA; Thompson CT; and Newark, NJ; Missions and that these Missions will be recognized as “particular churches” at Annual Conference. South Allentown, PA – Pastor Elliot Ramos/ Thompson, CT – Pastor Dennis Spinney
7. We expect God to work in the Scranton Church, providing and blessing a strategy to reach the neighborhood around the Church. Scranton, PA – Pastor Roger Reitz
8. We expect God to give growth to the Brooklyn Church through the evangelistic fervor and efforts this congregation has for the lost. Brooklyn, NY – Pastor Ralph Ritter
9. We expect God to have the Ocean County, NJ Church in its new location and facilities by the Summer of 2002 and that He will give 15 new converts who will join the group as they enter the new building. Toms River, NJ – Pastor Dean Stortz
10. We expect God to move the Aberdeen Church into its new meeting place and that He will bring many from this new community into the Church. Aberdeen, NJ – Pastor John Vandegriff
11. We expect God to continue to raise up support for Church Planting and that the BFC will catch fire for evangelism and the planting of new churches.
I praise God for the many encouragements He gives me through the people of the BFC. It is my joy and privilege to serve the Pastors and the great saints who make up the Bible Fellowship Church. But even greater encouragement is to know that I am serving the Sovereign King of the universe. All glory to Him ! Please pray for me in 2002. Pray that I will be a servant to the BFC, the men of our Department, and the Board Of Church Extension. Pray that God will give me wisdom. Pray for our Team; Ruth Richards and the vast amount of work she has the responsibility of overseeing, Carol Snyder and her duties, and John Pello as he works alongside our Church Planters. Finally, Pray for our men and their families who serve in Church Extension. They are true sacrificial servants.
In His Love & Service,
Respectfully Submitted,
David E. Gundrum, Executive Director Of Church Extension.